Michele Bachmann to withdraw Swiss citizenship

Congressman Michele Bachmann speaks next to U.S. Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney during a rally at Crofton Industries in Portsmouth, in this Virginia May 3, 2012 file photo.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Republican White House candidate Michele Bachmann sought to withdraw her Swiss citizenship on Thursday and dismissed any questions about her allegiance to the United States.

Bachmann, a U.S. representative from Minnesota and a favorite of the conservative Tea Party movement, became eligible for dual U.S.-Swiss citizenship in 1978 when she married her husband, who is Swiss.

She activated that right because three of their five children wanted to do so and they went through the process as a family, a spokeswoman said.

A spokesman at the Swiss Embassy said Bachmann had activated that citizenship in March.

Bachmann, who pulled out of the presidential race in January, said in a statement on Thursday that she had written to the Swiss Consulate asking to withdraw the dual status.

"I took this action because I want to make it perfectly clear: I was born in America and I am a proud American citizen," she said.

(Reporting By John Crawley and Deborah Charles; Editing by Eric Beech)